European Institute, London School of Economics
The Problem 1/2
People see why climate matters generally, but not why it matters to them
The Problem 2/2
How can we deliver personalised messages at scale, cost-effectively, and in a way that engages people on a personal level?
We argue that AI – and in particular its personalised content - could influence climate attitudes and overcome some of the limitations of pure information provision.
Key Advantages:
H1: When compared with the control condition (information provision), interacting with the LLM will have a positive effect on all outcomes of interest: a) climate concern, b) policy support, c) pro-environmental behavior, d) conversation spillover, e) political spillover, and f) subjective climate beliefs.
H2: The personalized LLM interaction on climate change will be more persuasive/effective than the non-personalized LLM interaction and the basic information provision on all outcomes of interest.
H3: The personalized LLM interaction on climate change condition will be more persuasive/effective compared to the personalized AI interaction on an unrelated political topic.
Online Survey Experiment
Participants are randomized into these conditions:
Control: Standard information provision about climate change
Non-Personalized AI: Generic LLM conversation about climate change
Personalized AI (Unrelated Topic): Personalised AI-driven conversation about a political topic unrelated to climate change
Personalized AI (Climate): Personalised AI-driven conversation about climate change
Treatments Explanation
Timing and Analysis
Would you like to write a message to your local MP about climate change?
Would you like to learn more about climate change and how to take action?
Would you like to make a donation to a climate NGO?
Any Questions?
The Numbers:
Climate Concern Personalised Measure: "Summarize the following passage, which describes attitudes towards climate change, in a single sentence. Do not provide any kind of normative judgment. Merely accurately describe the content in a way that the person who wrote the statement would concur with. Frame it as an assertion. If the statement is already short, no need to change it very much. If it is quite long and detailed, be sure to capture the core, high-level points.
Climate Change Personalised Treatment "Your goal is to very effectively persuade users that climate change is an urgent issue and action is now crucial. Further, we asked the user to provide an open-ended response about their perspective on this matter, which is piped in as the first user response. Please generate a response that will persuade the user that it is actually important to act now, based on their own reasoning. Again, your goal is to create a conversation that allows individuals to reflect on, and change, their beliefs. Use simple language that an average person will be able to understand."